Letter: Greed has supplanted ethics

Roy Rapier's June 8 letter, "Those who work hard succeed," misses the point on why there is such wealth disparity in America. Often education has little to do with wealth.

Bill Gates quit college yet many graduates with master's and doctorate degrees cannot find work. Most of the animus is against the super wealthy and their lack of ethics in how they acquired their wealth or what they owe back to society. Mitt Romney earned his millions because he came from a privileged background and vulture capitalism.

How does one rake millions out of a company, then it goes bankrupt, and the workers are left without a job, pension, or health insurance? How do bankers at Goldman Sachs get bonuses after they destroyed the world's economy with risky derivative bets and had their jobs saved by taxpayers? Why are CEOs paid obscene salaries approved by boards of directors that don't really represent shareholders?

We are not envious of those who are wealthy. We just think greed has supplanted ethics in the manner in which people acquire wealth.